A common technique to make a wood window shutter with movable louvers, particularly a shutter intended to be marketed as "low-cost" or "economy" grade, is to fabricate and assemble the entire shutter and then paint it as an assembled unit. Paint tends to collect, however, in the pivotal joints by which the louvers are mounted to the frame of the shutter resulting in reduced function and aesthetic appeal. Consequently, with such a shutter manufacturing technique, it is common to increase the clearance to reduce the risk of freezing or binding of the joint with hardened paint. That tends to result in loose, uneven joints. While it has been suggested, as in Briggs U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,391, that these difficulties may be avoided by forming and finishing the frame and the louvers separately, and then attaching the louvers to the frame, there is a need for a simplified, yet effective, arrangement by which the pivoted position of the louvers, when adjusted, is maintained. The aforementioned Briggs patent describes an arrangement in which a magnetically engageable ganging bar is connected to each of the louvers between one of the stiles of the frame and the ends of the louvers adjacent that stile, coupled with magnets mounted to the frame for engaging the ganging bars and securing them in an adjusted position. A common arrangement that has been employed, particularly in preassembled louvered shutters is to drive a wood screw into and through the frame of the shutter so that its end bears against the end of a louver pin at the end of the louver. By tightening the screw, the other end of the louver can be urged against the opposite side of the frame to develop sufficient friction that will tend to retain the louvers in an adjusted position, a technique that is referred to as "tensioning". Over time, the threaded engagement of the screw directly with the wood of the frame and the pin at the end of the shutter can be expected to become worn from periodic adjustments of the louvers and other causes. The Briggs patent refers to other approaches in which a heavy spring is applied against either or both ends of each louver to maintain what is referred to as "axial tension" on the louver. Briggs explains that such movement action, however, is "somewhat jerky".
Also among the diffculties that may be encountered with some movable louvered shutters is that the hardware that is associated with the shutter may differ from one shape or configuration of shutter to another. In such instances, it may become necessary for a substantial inventory of components to be maintained for each of the different size or configuration of shutter. For example, it may be necessary to maintain an inventory of a variety of springs, pins or the like in different sizes for use with different sized shutters or configurations. Not only does that present inventory difficulties but it also presents an opportunity for assembly mistakes to be made, as by putting the wrong hardware item in a particular shutter.
There is a need for a movable louvered shutter and technique for its fabrication in which the shutter components fit closely, function properly and reflect aesthetically, a high degree of craftsmanship and further in which the arrangement for maintaining the louvers in an adjusted, aligned position is simple, inexpensive and will not result in damage to the frame or the louver from repeated adjustment of the tension on the louvers. There also is a need for a movable louvered shutter that requires relatively few hardware components and which those components can be used to fabricate a wide variety of such shutters of virtually any size.